Rodgers wants more inclusion when decisions are made

Since Gutekunst took over as general manager in January, the Packers moved on from quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt and made a change to the wide receiving corps by releasing Jordy Nelson, one of Rodgers’ favorite targets. Rodgers was reportedly not consulted for either decision.

Then in April, he was asked about the loss of Nelson. Via ESPN:

I think it’s pretty clear that players play and coaches coach and personnel people make their decisions, Rodgers said in an interview with a Milwaukee radio station late last week. That’s the way they want it.

According to Robinson, other established veteran quarterbacks get consulted for decisions along those lines.

The solution would seem pretty simple: keep the star quarterback in the loop. The question is how much damage and rapport was lost by not doing so sooner.

OddsShark gives the Bengals a 90 to 1 longshot to win the 2019 Super Bowl, while the Jets are at 100 to 1. The bottom five shows the Browns at 66 to 1, the Dolphins at 70 to 1 and the Bears at 80 to 1, followed by Cincinnati and the Jets.

The recently-released 2018 schedule reflected that lack of respect, but it may end up working in the Bengals’ favor. Cincinnati shows up in primetime only one time in 2018, and that is for a Thursday Night Football meeting in Week 2 at home against the Baltimore Ravens. That’s it.

Of the remaining 15 games, 14 have a 1 p.m. start time, with the only exception being the December 9 game at the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13, which is set for 4:05 p.m. EST. Cincinnati’s bye week comes exactly halfway through its schedule in Week 9, three weeks after hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers in Paul Brown Stadium.

Rather than a slap in the face, though, the scheduling gods may have actually done the Bengals a favor. Cincinnati has appeared in 12 Sunday night football games since Marvin Lewis took over in 2003, and has only one win to show for it.